You have staff members who are charged with performing certain tasks within your business. In fact you employed them to assist you in the smooth running of your salon and to take the pressure off you as the owner to free up your time. The trouble is... they seem to be taking up so much more of your time than if you just did their job yourself! And in most cases you do end up doing it yourself and supporting them – and that’s just wearing you down to a frazzle isn’t it?

So what went wrong?

Well I’ll tell you... they didn’t buy into your vision or dream of where the business is going, they don’t understand how you want your business to operate to achieve the goals and your vision, or worse still, you don’t know the answer to these questions yourself and you are just operating the salon on a daily basis through reaction – and that’s a recipe for disaster. In fact, you may feel that you’re a fire-fighter not a beauty therapist, as you seem to spend your days putting out little fires all over the place. A business without a clear sense of direction will drift about and go whatever way the wind blows, I often see the result of this and it is much like watching a cork bounce around in a spa pool. Without direction or order on a daily basis a salon and its owner and team will struggle with success.

It has long been acknowledged that the majority of the human race are followers, and that means that most people are happy to follow others, so ask yourself the question... what have you as the business leader given your team to follow? What inspires them to do an amazing job at doing their job... what other reason other than money have you given them for coming to work?

Before I hear you saying it....I’ll say it for you, you can lead a horse to water but you can’t make it drink Malcolm!

Well you are right, however have you thought about why a horse would want to drink? Maybe if you put some salt in its oats you will create a thirst, therefore it will want to drink from your well.

A vision is the inspiring direction chosen by successful leaders to unmistakably and succinctly express the direction of the business. By crafting a clear vision statement (the why) and mission statement (the how), you can powerfully communicate your intentions and motivate your salon team to realise an attractive and inspiring common vision of the future.

Think about it, what is it that makes you get out of bed every day and head off to your business? Is it the fact that you have a dream, a vision of what that business could do for you and how it can help you achieve your goals? Maybe it’s because if you didn’t turn up the business would not work? (If this is the reason, that’s a whole new set of issues that need to be covered in another article).

If you have a higher purpose for your life, and your business is just the vehicle that helps you achieve this, then perhaps the people who you have working alongside you have got similar hopes and dreams.

Have you thought to ask them questions like:

What is it that they want out of working with or for you?

What dreams and desires have they for their lives?

What is it that they desire to achieve?

Many salon owners believe that money is the reason their team come to work, but believe it or not money is generally way down on the list of reasons people work. Things like job satisfaction, interaction with people, making a difference, helping people are all reasons given by people for going to work every day.

Are you organised? Are you systemised? Do you have a vision for the business and have you inspired your team to follow that vision? Do you know where you are going? Why you do what you do?

I’m reminded of a saying I heard a long time ago and the title of this article... ‘If you don’t know where you are going, who knows you may already be there!’ You are the leader in your business, and the leader sees the future through their vision, sets the course for achievement through the mission and then inspires, encourages and motivates their team to follow them towards it.

There are six keys to having a winning team and although I don’t have the room in this article to cover them all, it is important to highlight reason number one, and that’s Strong Leadership.

Leadership is about painting a current picture of the future in the form of a vision. Importantly, the leader must then be able to share that vision with the team. How well do you as the leader in your business inspire your team to achieve the vision?

As we look ahead at a new year and planning what we will do differently than last year to grow your business, the real question is - are you being the ideal leader to inspire your team to greatness?

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Spa & Beauty NZ provides spa and beauty therapists with the knowledge to stay at the top of the industry. Whether you’re looking for information on new products through to starting your own business, you can find all the information and support you need to be successful in this industry.